The 60 day challenge; can I write a book proposal?

Starting tomorrow, May 1st I’m starting on a book project. Since I’m a slacker who doesn’t get stuff done unless I have a deadline, I thought I’d go public about the project for some accountability & encouragement. I’ve been wanting to write a book for awhile, but as any of my friends who are authors have told me there is this thing called resistance when it comes to writing. Resistance whether it’s scheduling the time to do it, the mental hurdles of believing an idea is worth taking the time to write about, or finding an idea in the first place. As Renee Zellweger as a new breakout star said in the horribly awesome 1990’s movie Empire Records “who knows where ideas come from? They just appear!” Well, I have an idea. And I’ve got some wind in my sails. And with your help blog friends, I think I can do it.

git r' done!

So- what am I going to do? I’m going to take the next 60 days to work on a book I’ve been calling Stones Over Water- about how Jesus shapes his witnesses in times of solitude and sharing the gospel. I’m going to focus on themes of the spiritual significance of water in scripture and in my own life. I’m a Great Lakes girl after all & there have been divine moments in my life watching a sunset over a glistening Lake Michigan, seeing the violent waves crash against the shores of Lake Superior or hearing the roar of shallow Lake Erie.  Because it makes the most sense I’m going to work on a submission to InterVarsity Press which includes:

• 3 chapters
• A cover letter describing the book and my passion for the project
• research on similar books on the market
• an outline for the book and approximate length.

I’m psyched, I’m scared, I’m bursting with joy to finally have a project to channel my ideas into. I really feel like it wasn’t until now that Jesus gave me release to write a book. And now, I feel like it will be straight up disobeying him and wasting what he’s given me if I don’t get my butt in the chair, put fingers to keyboard & let the words flow. So what could I use your help with? For one, I’d love some encouragement- words of affirmation are one of the ways I feel most cared for. I started this blog to interact with people about ideas & would really love your feedback or even just a short comment of “way to go!” or “that sucks” on the inevitable rough days where I’ll feel like every sentence I write is trash.

Tomorrow is my first writing day & my spiritual director has wonderfully offered to let me use her home during a writing day. Overlooking a river, in the woods surrounded by cozy furniture and really good Republic of Tea Coconut Cocoa tea I feel inspired just being in her home. I’ll post how things are going each week & invite you into the experience of what it’s like trying to get a book proposal done in 60 days- the good, the bad, and the ugly. Wish me luck friends!